Marco Ponti
Encyclopedia
Marco Ponti is a prominent Italian film director, whose work includes strange characters who move in a world more like a comic book than a movie screen, in elliptical conversations.
and started working as a copywriter. After two years he worked as an assistant at the Faculty of Semiotics at the University of Turin. In 1995 he attended a script writing course the Holden School in Turin; the following year he worked at the same place under the direction of Alessandro Baricco
. In 1997 he attended a course for movie writers at the RAI Cinema Fiction School; in the same year he published a book dedicated to Quentin Tarantino
.
He wrote a sitcom for RadioRai and four pieces for the Gruppo della Rocca di Torino's theatre.
After writing and directing some award winning shorts (Benevenuto a San Salvario won the European Film Award in 1998; Amsterdam won an award for the best short feature and for the best actor at the Saint Vincent Festival in 1999), his debut feature film as a writer / director, Santa Maradona, in 2001 has been one of the smash hits of the year.
Starring Stefano Accorsi, Libero De Rienzo, Anita Caprioli e Mandala Tayde, the movie won two David di Donatello Awards (the award given by the Italian Academy of Motion Pictures) in 2002 for Best New Director and Best Supporting Actor, the Ciak d'Oro Award 2002 (given by the most influential movie magazine, Ciak) and, always in the same year, the Critics Award and Best Actor in the International Film Festival of Mar del Plata (Argentina).
The movie repeated his success in the DVD edition, reaching number 1 in the charts, and achieving the cult status between Italian moviegoers (same happened for the soundtrack CD). Now, it is considered the movie who defined the post-gen X in Italy.
Santa Maradona became as well a popular movie in the film festivals circuit (from Toronto to Cuba, from Burkina Faso to Japan, from Berkeley to Sydney) and has been broadcasted in several countries all around the five continents, and was chosen by Wim Wenders in 2003 as a case study in new film-making in the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2005, Marco Ponti writes and direct his sophomore movie: A/R Andata + Ritorno (Round Trip) starring again Libero De Rienzo with Spanish beauty Vanessa Incontrada and the Indian star Kabir Bedi. The movie was in top ten charts both in theaters and DVD sells and was screened, between others, in the Mill Valley Film Festival, Honolulu, New Zealand and Australia.
In addition to his career as director, Marco Ponti co-wrote some movies: Se Fossi In Te di Giulio Manfredonia (Cattleya, 2001), L'uomo perfetto (Cattleya/Warner, 2005—nominee as Best Story in the Nastri D'Argento del Cinema Italiano 2006, the critics award), Cardiofitness (2007). He also co-wrote and story edited the Italian adaptation of the famous sit-com The Odd Couple, in 2007.
Marco Ponti also worked in theatre since 1997, his last work are the translations / adaptations for the stage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (2005) and Coleridge
's The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner (2008).
In 2007-2008 he teamed with Italian rockstars Jovanotti and Vasco Rossi
for the documentary film La Luna di Giorno - Un ritratto in Movimento (The Moon by Day - A Portrait in Movement, edited in DVD and nuber one in the charts in January—march 2008) and the music video Il Mondo Che Vorrei. Both are filmed in Los Angeles directed by Ponti and produced by Gianfilippo Pedrotti through their LA based company Wonderland Ent.
He is currently writing for Sky Television a bio-pic of the late and (in)famous pornstar - turned politician - turned icon Moana Pozzi.
Biography
He graduated in Modern Letters at the University of TurinUniversity of Turin
The University of Turin is a university in the city of Turin in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy...
and started working as a copywriter. After two years he worked as an assistant at the Faculty of Semiotics at the University of Turin. In 1995 he attended a script writing course the Holden School in Turin; the following year he worked at the same place under the direction of Alessandro Baricco
Alessandro Baricco
Alessandro Baricco is a popular Italian writer, director and performer. His novels have been translated into a wide number of languages...
. In 1997 he attended a course for movie writers at the RAI Cinema Fiction School; in the same year he published a book dedicated to Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Tarantino
Quentin Jerome Tarantino is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, cinematographer and actor. In the early 1990s, he began his career as an independent filmmaker with films employing nonlinear storylines and the aestheticization of violence...
.
He wrote a sitcom for RadioRai and four pieces for the Gruppo della Rocca di Torino's theatre.
After writing and directing some award winning shorts (Benevenuto a San Salvario won the European Film Award in 1998; Amsterdam won an award for the best short feature and for the best actor at the Saint Vincent Festival in 1999), his debut feature film as a writer / director, Santa Maradona, in 2001 has been one of the smash hits of the year.
Starring Stefano Accorsi, Libero De Rienzo, Anita Caprioli e Mandala Tayde, the movie won two David di Donatello Awards (the award given by the Italian Academy of Motion Pictures) in 2002 for Best New Director and Best Supporting Actor, the Ciak d'Oro Award 2002 (given by the most influential movie magazine, Ciak) and, always in the same year, the Critics Award and Best Actor in the International Film Festival of Mar del Plata (Argentina).
The movie repeated his success in the DVD edition, reaching number 1 in the charts, and achieving the cult status between Italian moviegoers (same happened for the soundtrack CD). Now, it is considered the movie who defined the post-gen X in Italy.
Santa Maradona became as well a popular movie in the film festivals circuit (from Toronto to Cuba, from Burkina Faso to Japan, from Berkeley to Sydney) and has been broadcasted in several countries all around the five continents, and was chosen by Wim Wenders in 2003 as a case study in new film-making in the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2005, Marco Ponti writes and direct his sophomore movie: A/R Andata + Ritorno (Round Trip) starring again Libero De Rienzo with Spanish beauty Vanessa Incontrada and the Indian star Kabir Bedi. The movie was in top ten charts both in theaters and DVD sells and was screened, between others, in the Mill Valley Film Festival, Honolulu, New Zealand and Australia.
In addition to his career as director, Marco Ponti co-wrote some movies: Se Fossi In Te di Giulio Manfredonia (Cattleya, 2001), L'uomo perfetto (Cattleya/Warner, 2005—nominee as Best Story in the Nastri D'Argento del Cinema Italiano 2006, the critics award), Cardiofitness (2007). He also co-wrote and story edited the Italian adaptation of the famous sit-com The Odd Couple, in 2007.
Marco Ponti also worked in theatre since 1997, his last work are the translations / adaptations for the stage of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (2005) and Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an English poet, Romantic, literary critic and philosopher who, with his friend William Wordsworth, was a founder of the Romantic Movement in England and a member of the Lake Poets. He is probably best known for his poems The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Kubla...
's The Ryme of the Ancient Mariner (2008).
In 2007-2008 he teamed with Italian rockstars Jovanotti and Vasco Rossi
Vasco Rossi
Vasco Rossi , also known as Vasco or with the nickname Il Blasco, is an Italian singer-songwriter. During his career, he has published 25 albums and has written over 150 songs, as well as lyrics for other artists...
for the documentary film La Luna di Giorno - Un ritratto in Movimento (The Moon by Day - A Portrait in Movement, edited in DVD and nuber one in the charts in January—march 2008) and the music video Il Mondo Che Vorrei. Both are filmed in Los Angeles directed by Ponti and produced by Gianfilippo Pedrotti through their LA based company Wonderland Ent.
He is currently writing for Sky Television a bio-pic of the late and (in)famous pornstar - turned politician - turned icon Moana Pozzi.
Scripts
- Benvenuto in San Salvario short (1998)
- Kissing Paul Newman short (2001)
- Se fossi in te (2001)
- Playgirl short (2002)
- L’uomo perfetto (2005)
- Cardiofitness (2007)
Various
- "Novecento" live broadcasting of Alessandro Baricco's play (2003)
- "TIM Mobile" commercial with Joaquin Cortez (2003)
- "Romeo & Juliet" play adaptation and translation (2005)
- "La strana coppia" TV show, Italia Uno (2007)
- "La Luna di giorno" documentary, released on DVD (2008)
- "Colazione da Tiffany" Radio show, regular guest (2007–2008)
- Music video for Vasco Rossi (2008)
- Music video for Elisa (2009)